Cal Vanize inscribed in red ink for all to know:


RW Salnick wrote:

DSK inscribed in red ink for all to know:

Budget max to buy is low $100k's. Annual budget would be in the
neighborhood of $25-30k.





Cap'n Ric wrote:

Annual budget of 30K for a power boat isn't much unless you plan on
not going very far.




Or get a boat that is fuel efficient (ie not a speedboat)
From what I have read, and talking to a lot of different cruiser in
both power & sail bost, there isn't a whole lot of difference in the
cost of cruising (unless you are burning fuel to make ten tons of
boat & furniture plane).

DSK


I can only offer this direct, real-world comparison. Two years ago,
we (and our 50' ketch, Perkins 4-236 4 cyl diesel) made a month-long
trip from Seattle to Desolation Sound and back. During the same time
frame, friends of ours down the dock made essentially the same trip in
their 55' (?) trawler-style power boat. Not sure of the power plants,
but they are also diesel. We burned 95 gallons of diesel over the
course of the month. The power boat burned 895 gallons of diesel.

bob
s/v Eolian
Seattle



How much time was spent under sail?



I don't recall, but "as much as possible", given that frequently a
destination was targeted... I think that well more than half the miles
were made under sail. Under power, we average 5.5 kt, and tho under
sail, the speed variation was much greater, we probably averaged pretty
much the same speed overall. One of our criteria was that if our speed
(in the water) dropped to less than about 3.5 kt, we fired up the
Perkins. Also, the PNW is an area of tremendous currents - if our SOG
dropped to less than 2 kt, we fired up the Perkins as well.

Frequently, the comparisons between power and sail are made with both
boats under power. The thing that seems to be often left out in these
comparisons is that with a sail boat, there is a lot of time when you
are making miles with the engine switched off completely.

This trip was in what is considered to be "inland waters" where the wind
is less reliable than what you would find in coastal cruising. I have
no experience there, but others might well say that our ratio of sail to
power was lower than their experience. For example, friends of ours
recently completed the trip from Seattle to San Francisco. Better than
95% of their miles were made under sail.

What you will find is highly dependant on the area you intend to cruise,
the time of year during which you intend to cruise, and a really
indefinable quantity that is some combination of your enjoyment of the
experience of being under sail, your patience, and your focus on the
journey (as well as the destination). This is a very personal thing,
and the great variety of boat types on the water reflects this
diversity. Pick a boat that matches your personality type, or you will
be forever frustrated, disappointed, and ultimately, disinterested in
boating. Judging by the number of boats (of *all* types) that sit tied
to the dock 40 or 50 weeks out of the year, not many people get this
right...

bob
s/v Eolian
Seattle